“How can philanthropy build on the momentum of the innovations of the past two years to help accelerate real sustainable change, not in the distant future, but right here and now?”

With no vaccine for the climate crisis, and no herd immunity for inequality, the European Foundation Centre’s (EFC) Annual Conference in Vienna looked at ways for philanthropy to help catalyse a more holistic response to the vast challenges that still lie ahead.  The conference in Vienna represented the first time that the EFC membership was able to come together as one for more than two years.

The EFC’s annual conference gave its members the chance to meet with professionals and representatives from philanthropy, corporates, NGOs, EU and multilateral institutions, think tanks and the media. Participants shared, learned and explored together new ideas and approaches to tackling the urgent challenges of our times, forging connections that last well beyond the conference.

Since more than 30 years,  the annual conference of the European Foundations Centre addresses societal issues that are relevant to the future of Europe and the world at large, such as inequality, social injustice, and inclusive and participatory societies. Each year an overarching theme is chosen that provides a lens through which to view current issues as well as the various areas in which philanthropy works – from gender to ageing to urban development to research, to name just a few.

The event is held in a different European city each year, rotating back to Brussels regularly to give delegates a chance to engage in the EFC’s ongoing advocacy work with the EU institutions and policymakers. 2021 Vienna was hosting the conference for the first time with ERSTE Foundation chairing the Programme Committee as well as the Host Committee.

This text and video is published under the Creative Commons License: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. The name of the author/rights holder should be mentioned as followed. Author: Jovana Trifunović and Igor Bararon / tippingpoint.net. Cover picture: film still

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